The Star-Ledger's M.A. Mehta writes, "Hughes' latest disappointing performance could land him back in the minors." For his part, Hughes is willing to go wherever the organization wants. He's quoted by Mehta, "The mound is just as far away in Triple-A as it is here. Maybe I wouldn't get hit as hard down there. But there's still things I need to work out. Wherever that is, is not my call."

John Harper feels a trip to the minors could help salvage Hughes's season. Johnette Howard thinks Hughes looks "too rattled to stay." Clearly, the abuse he's taking from opposing lineups is taking at least a mental (if not physical) toll on the youngster. We'd agree, Hughes looks a bit rattled on the mound, but at the same time, he's handling everything with great maturity. If Hughes continues to get pounded at the major league level, perhaps a chance to catch his breath in Scranton would do him some good in the long term. Joel Sherman seems to think so.

The silver linings are hard to find today, but at least we were treated to 3.1 scoreless frames from Ross Ohlendorf, who struck out five. In all, the bullpen threw 5.1 scoreless innings after Hughes left the game last night. And Robinson Cano's two-run HR in the second inning was nice to see. He's too good a hitter not to come around eventually.

M.A. Mehta notes that for all the talk of the Yankees' young arms, it is veterans like Andy Pettitte (and Chien-Ming Wang) that are keeping the team afloat early in the season. Pettitte will go up againstJeremy Bonderman tonight, where Andy will once again be taking on his familiar role as stopper.

In other news...

We don't think Hughes is making excuses, but he told the Post that it's harder for him to see at night. "Things get blurry," he said.

The Daily News discusses how Doc Gooden and Gary Sheffield are both sorry to see the city's two stadiums sent out to pasture. Mike Puma writes that Sheff got a ride to the Stadium from Johnny Damon yesterday. That HR off Hughes was no way to repay your friend, Sheff.

We've avoided this whole thing, but the Daily News has been ridiculous with this Roger Clemens stuff. The latest piece discusses his "bevy of beauties." Clemens's situation is almost comical at this point. And what of poor Mrs. Clemens, who has to be fuming these days, and Roger's kids? They have to be suffering just as much as him, if not more. Clemens has to be wondering (as we are) what would have happened if he'd just admitted to using PEDs. Our guess is either he's innocent (theoretically, it's possible), or he just didn't want people to look at his records as "tainted," as many do with Barry Bonds these days (who, by the way, has also never admitted anything). Crankypants Wallace Matthews surprisingly defended Clemens yesterday.

Fans are reacting to the high prices of all-star tickets. MLB only set the bar so high because they know people will buy the tickets at any price. Though it feels unfair for the blue-collar fan, the fact is somebody out there can and will afford those prices. The Post says 70% of the tickets are going to season ticket holders, which seems fair enough to us.